SINGAPORE stocks started Thursday (Sep 19) on a muted note, after US indices and Europe’s main stock index fell overnight.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.76 points or 0.02 per cent to 3,593.18. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 28, after 17.8 million securities worth S$24.3 million changed hands.
Watch-listed renewable energy infrastructure company Metis Energy was the most actively traded counter by volume. The stock climbed S$0.002 or 5.6 per cent to S$0.038 after 3.2 million shares changed hands.
Other actively traded counters included offshore and marine specialist Seatrium, which rose S$0.04 or 2.4 per cent to S$1.72. Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust traded US$0.001 or 0.8 per cent higher at US$0.125.
Banking stocks were mixed in early trade. UOB shed S$0.22 or 0.7 per cent to S$32.33, and OCBC traded S$0.06 or 0.4 per cent lower at S$15.28. DBS traded flat at S$38.10.
Wall Street stocks finished modestly lower on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut of half a percentage point, ending days of speculation about the size of the move.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.3 per cent at 41,503.1. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.3 per cent to 5,618.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 17,573.3.
In Europe, stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as investors refrained from risk-taking before the interest rate decision by the Fed was announced. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.5 per cent at 514.59.
